Father of the Year is the fourteenth episode of The Brady Bunch TV series, and also the fourteenth overall episode in the series. Written by Skip Webster and directed by George Cahan, the episode premiered on ABC-TV, airing on January 2, 1970.

Synopsis

Marcia wants to nominate her dad for "Father of the Year." But she wants to keep it a secret, which means she'll have to break family rules to get it done. If she's caught, Mike will punish her--which is exactly what happens.

Storyline

Making his other meeting attendees wait for a few minutes while he helps her with her homework is just the latest reason why Marcia believes Mike is such a special father, despite his not being her biological father. So when Marcia learns that the Daily Chronicle newspaper is holding a Father of the Year essay writing contest, Marcia has no hesitation in preparing an entry, but she doesn't want to let anyone, especially Mike, know.

Marcia nominates Mike as "Father of the Year" in the contest, but her actions to keep this secret result in several misunderstandings. Even when she is punished by him, especially for something she knows was her fault, she understands; first, as she is first asked to do a few extra chores for being caught in Mike's den (past bedtime) where she is writing her letter for the contest. Second, after not doing them to continue writing the secret entry, she is grounded for a week. Then when she sees the deadline for entry for the contest was the next day, she sneaks out to mail the letter. When she is caught outside well past her bedtime she is grounded from going with the family on a ski trip which was being planned. Things are resolved when Mike is presented with the "Father of the Year" plaque and informed of how he won.